Dog Days series
Dog Days series — by John Levitt Genres and Sub-Genres Urban Fantasy Series Description or Overview In Dog Days, Mason solves a case involving missing Ifrits and a power-hungry practitioner who wants to control the magical world. In New Tricks, Mason tries to help some homeless men but winds up opening an energy pool (similar to a portal) that allows some supernatural monsters into the mortal world of San Francisco. In Unleashed, Mason and his friends continue to hunt down the monsters who came through the energy pool, including some vicious shape shifters. In Play Dead, a black (as in black magic) practitioner hires Mason to find another black practitioner and retrieve some stolen materials. None of these adventures is as simple as it first seems, and in each case, Mason is constantly under attack—both magically and physically—and must use his improvisational magical talents to keep himself alive, with a lot of help from Lou. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction Lead's Species * Magic practitioner Primary Supe * Magic practitioners What Sets it Apart * Magic Dog companion, an Ifrit. Narrative Type and Narrators * First person narrative from Mason’s point of view Books in Series Dog Days series: # Dog Days (2007) # New Tricks (2008) # Unleashed (2009) # Play Dead (2011) Shorts, Novellas, Anthologies and Guides none yet Themes, Motifs, Symbolism World Building Setting San Francisco Places: * Portland * Land's End * Baker Beach * Dogpatch * Mount Davidson * Valencia Supernatural Elements ✥ Magic practitioners, mages, monsters, monster hunter, , Shape-adapter, portal, Windengo, , , , psychic, energy pool that's spitting out monsters, Ifrit, ✥ Magic Skills/Types: empathy, intuition, Black arts, , , Glossary: * Ifrit: small magical animal that chooses a person with magical powers to live with and protect—similar to a witch’s familiar. (common definition) 'Groups & Organizations': * World Set in San Francisco, this series deals with magic practitioners and the various supernatural creatures with whom they interact. Along with Victor and Eli (Mason’s mentor), Mason gets involved in a series of adventures involving practitioners who use magic for harmful reasons. Eli is more of a philosopher than a practitioner—like an expert football coach who is better at teaching the sport than playing it. Victor is Eli's star quarterback—an excellent practitioner in every way (and with an over-the-top ego to match his big skills). Mason is like an on-the-bench specialist. If he worked a bit harder, he could be as good as Victor, but as it is, Eli and Victor call on him when they have a job that calls for his almost unbeatable improvisational skills. In this world, an Ifrit is a small magical animal that chooses a person with magical powers to live with and protect—similar to a witch’s familiar. (This is not the common definition of an Ifrit.) Lou serves many functions in Mason’s life: defender, finder of lost people and objects, and icebreaker (he’s so cute that people can’t resist him). Lou and other Ifrits play major roles throughout the series. Mason has a few love interests but nothing permanent. The most long-lasting of the ex-girlfriends are Jordan, a fellow practitioner, and Campbell, a healing witch.~ Fang-tastic Fiction Protagonist ✥ The hero,, is a practitioner with powers that would be stronger if he put forth some effort and did some practicing. Mason does occasional enforcement work for Victor, the chief magical enforcer for the Bay Area, but his real love is music. Mason’s constant companion is Lou, who appears to be a dog (a miniature Doberman), but is really an Ifrit. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction Sidekick * Name: Lou / What: Ifrit / Sidekick-to: Mason / About: a small magical dog, like a familiar / Book First Seen: Dog Days (2007) Characters Chart To expand the table, in Edit–Visual mode, right-press on a Row of the table or Column (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add Row or Column. Author John Levitt * Website: Home * Genres: Urban Fantasy Bio: I grew up in New York City. After a stint at the University of Chicago (I didn’t graduate–I had things to do) I traveled around the country and ended up in San Francisco. Drugs and rock ‘n roll. Did some light shows for bands, learned to play guitar–the usual stuff. I forgot all about writing. A few years later, while working at a ski lodge in Alta, Utah, I found I was getting bored. So I looked around for the most unlikely thing I could think of, and joined the Salt Lake City Police Department. I only planned to do it for a year, just for the experience. That year turned into seven. When I left, I had enough material to fill a book. So I wrote one, a police thriller. Then another. Dog Days was my first Urban Fantasy, followed by New Tricks and Unleashed. Play Dead is the latest in the series and the last, at least for a while. I split my time these days between Alta, Utah, and San Francisco, and when I’m not working or writing, play guitar with my band in SF, The Procrastinistas. The character of the dog, Lou–well, he’s sort of a dog–is based on a real dog. Big surprise there. I personally have one cat and no dogs—but my girlfriend now has four. ~ Bio ~ John Levitt Contributors Cover Artists * Artist: Don Sipley — Source: ISFdb: Cover: Dog Days (all covers confirmed) 'Other Contributors': * Audio Book Narrator: — Source: * Editor: — Source: Publishing Information * Publisher: * Author Page: # Dog Days: # New Tricks: # Unleashed: # Play Dead: Book Cover Blurbs ✤ BOOK ONE—Dog Days (2007): First in a new urban fantasy series-with a bite as magical as its bark. Mason used to be an enforcer, ensuring that suspect magic practitioners stayed in line. But now he scrapes out a living playing guitar. Good thing he has Louie, his magical...well, let's call him a dog. But there are some kinds of evil that even Louie can't sniff out. And when Mason is attacked by a supernatural assailant, he'll have to fall back on the one skill he's mastered in music and magic-improvisation. ~ Goodreads | Dog Days (Dog Days, #1) by John Levitt ✤ BOOK TWO—New Tricks (2008): Former enforcer Mason would normally be concerned with finding ghosts and vampires stalking the Castro section of San Francisco. Fortunately, Halloween provides the perfect explanation for the abundance of ghouls. But someone is trying to possess his old flame, Sarah. Now, with the help of his magical dog Louie, Mason must uncover the black magician responsible. ~ Goodreads | New Tricks (Dog Days, #2) by John Levitt ✤ BOOK THREE—Unleashed (2009): Mason is an enforcer, keeping magical practitioners on the straight and narrow. His "dog" Louie, is a faithful familiar who's proven over and over that he's a practitioner?s best friend. But this time, Louie's in the line of fire when practitioners in San Francisco accidentally unleash a monster into the world. ~ Goodreads | Unleashed (Dog Days, #3) by John Levitt ✤ BOOK FOUR—Play Dead (2011): Mason used to be an enforcer, ensuring that those magic practitioners without a moral compass walked the straight and narrow. But now he just wants to keep his head down, play guitar, and maintain a low profile with Lou, his magical canine companion. But Mason is down on his luck, and when a job with a large payout comes along, he finds the offer hard to resist-not knowing it might mean sacrificing what both man and his best friend hold most dear. ~ Goodreads | Play Dead (Dog Days, #4) by John Levitt First Sentences # Dog Days (2007) — We'd just finished up the last set. # New Tricks (2008) — On the corner of Market and Castro, half-hidden in the shadow of a doorway, stood a vampire. # Unleashed (2009) — A fresh breeze, carrying a saltwater tang, pushed inland fro across the ocean. # Play Dead (2011) — The rain was vicious, drenching the streets. Quotes * Dog Days Series ~ Shelfari * none ~ Goodreads Trivia *Lists That Contain Dog Days (Dog Days, #1) by John Levitt *Lists That Contain New Tricks (Dog Days, #2) by John Levitt *Lists That Contain Unleashed (Dog Days, #3) by John Levitt *Lists That Contain Play Dead (Dog Days, #4) by John Levitt Awards Read Alikes (suggestions) — If you like these, you may like this: * Dresden Files series * Remy Chandler series * Connor Grey series * Simon Canderous series * Cal Leandros series * Felix Castor series * Nightside series * Victoria Nelson series * Prospero's War series * Celestial Blues Trilogy * Garrett Files series * Bloodhound Files series * Detective Inspector Chen series * Down These Strange Streets * Allie Beckstrom series * Diana Tregarde series * Colbana Files series * Damask Circle series * Jessica McClain series * Laura Blackstone series * Night Tracker series * Shadow Saga series * Demon Accords series * Jane Yellowrock series * Harri Phillecki, P.I. series * Walker Papers series * Marla Mason series * Secret Histories series * Dan Shamble, Zombie PI * Allie Beckstrom series * Black London series * Weather Warden series * October Daye series * Webmage series * Underworld Detection Agency series * Scarlett Bernard series Notes See Also * 2015 UF Release Schedule * List of Sidekicks * List of Vampires of Urban Fantasy * Characters (category) * List of UF Anthologies * List of Cover Artists * Urban Fantasy Links * 2014 UF Release Schedule * Category links at bottom of page External References Books: * Home ~ Author (book list on left column) * Dog Days series by John Levitt ~ Goodreads * John Levitt ~ FF * Dog Days - Series Bibliography ~ ISFdb * Dog Days Series ~ Shelfari * Dog Days | Series ~ LibraryThing * Dog Days series by John Levitt ~ FictFact * John Levitt - Summary Bibliography ~ ISFdb (author) Freebies & Excerpts: *Home ~ Excerpts to books Summaries: * * World, Characters, etc: *Fang-tastic Fiction: John Levitt: DOG DAYS *Dog Days Series ~ Shelfari Content References: *Ifrit - Wikipedia # Dog Days (2007) # New Tricks (2008) # Unleashed (2009) # Play Dead (2011) Reviews: * Interviews, Guest Posts, Author Commentary: * Artist: *Don Sipley - Summary Bibliography ~ ISFdb Author: * Home Community, Fan Sites: * Gallery of Book Covers Dog Days (Dog Days -1) by John Levitt.jpg|1. Dog Days (2007—Dog Days series) by John Levitt—Art: Don Sipley|link=http://www.jlevitt.com/index.php/excerpt-from-dog-days New Tricks (Dog Days #2) by John Levitt.jpg|2. New Tricks (2008—Dog Days series) by John Levitt—Art: Don Sipley|link=http://www.jlevitt.com/index.php/excerpt-from-new-tricks Unleashed (Dog Days #3) by John Levitt.jpg|3. Unleashed (2009—Dog Days series) by John Levitt—Art: Don Sipley|link=http://www.jlevitt.com/index.php/excerpt-from-unleashed Play Dead (Dog Days #4) by John Levitt.jpg|4. Play Dead (2011—Dog Days series) by John Levitt—Art: Don Sipley|link=http://www.jlevitt.com/index.php/playdead Category:Paranormal Detectives as Main Supe Category:Mages or Wizards as main supe Category:Witches Category:Ifrit Category:Psychics Category:Monsters Category:Vamp, Demon, Monsters Hunters as main supe Category:Paranormal Detectives: Cop or P.I. Category:Male Lead Category:Mages Category:Series Category:Male Authors Category:Great Sidekicks